pettäisi

Pettäisi is the third-person singular present conditional form of the Finnish verb pettää. The verb pettää means to cheat, deceive, or betray, and it is used in contexts ranging from personal relationships to breaches of trust or fraud. The conditional mood expressed by pettäisi is used to describe hypothetical or potential actions, and it often appears in if-clauses or statements about what would happen under certain conditions.

Usage and nuance

Pettää can refer to cheating in a romantic sense, as well as general deceit or letting someone down by breaking a promise or trust. Pettäisi, as a conditional form, signals that the action is not asserted as reality but as a possibility or hypothetical outcome. It is common in sentences that discuss what would occur if someone acted dishonestly or violated an expectation. The form is also used in polite or tentative statements, though in everyday speech the conditional may be softened with accompanying language to express doubt or courtesy.

Examples

- Jos hän pettäisi luottamukseni, en voisi enää luottaa häneen. (If he betrayed my trust, I could not trust him anymore.)

- Hän pettäisi minut, jos hän valehtelisi. (He would deceive me if he lied.)

Related forms

Pettää has other moods and tenses, such as the present tense pettää (he cheats), the past tense petti (he cheated), and negative or participial forms. Pettäisi is specifically the hypothetical conditional form used for third-person singular or in polite reference.